Celeste Thorson (right) and Nicola Geretti, now married, went on their first date on Thanksgiving Eve.John Chapple

When Chad Billmyer walked into Woody’s Bar in Philadelphia on Thanksgiving Eve in 2002, he spotted Jason Hendler across the room and knew he had found the love of his life.

“We were very attracted to one another at first sight,” Billmyer, a 38-year-old tech entrepreneur, tells The Post. They began dating, had a commitment ceremony four years later and are now married and live with their 7-year-old son, Colin, in Santa Monica, Calif.

“There is something to the serendipity of people who meet on this night . . . there’s just a larger mix [of people], geographically and socioeconomically, who are going out,” says Billmyer of meeting Hendler, now 48.

Chad Billmyer (left) and Jason Hendler met at a bar in Philadelphia on Thanksgiving Eve in 2002. The two are now married, live in California and have a 7-year-old son.John Chapple

Thanksgiving Eve is one of the biggest nights of the year for singles, according to dating apps such as The League, which reports that its users are 30 percent more likely to be active online the night before Turkey Day.

“There’s a spike because you’re with your family the night before, and they’re busy cooking, so you’re usually on your phone messaging other people,” Meredith Davis, head of community and operations at The League, tells The Post.

It’s an especially prime time for millennials. Davis adds that Thanksgiving Eve falls in the middle of “cuffing season,” when Gen Y-ers find a special someone to cuddle with as the temperature drops.

Jose Montiel, who plans to paint the town red with pals in Murray Hill before spending the holiday with family in Westchester, can relate.

“Usually everyone is too drunk to be looking for someone special that night,” the 23-year-old Gramercy-based salesperson tells The Post. “But [my friends and I] are definitely looking to settle down for the winter holiday. Parents are asking who their kids are dating.”

‘You can spend all night out and be carefree and not have to worry about repercussions.’

- Devyn Simone, dating expert

Another reason to go out the night before gorging on stuffing with family members: If you’re young, you likely don’t have to shoulder the burden of prepping for the big day.

“Most young people don’t have to work on Thanksgiving, and unless you’re a mom or grandma, you probably don’t have any cooking responsibilities the night before, so everyone goes out,” Devyn Simone, dating expert and co-host of “Love at First Swipe” on TLC, tells The Post. “You can spend all night out and be carefree and not have to worry about repercussions.”

Kate Waxler, a 25-year-old League user, plans on meeting other singles when she heads home to Los Angeles for the holidays. She and her friends go out on Thanksgiving Eve every year.

“Everyone knows that it’s a popular night to go out and meet new people, so it’s a good night to meet others who are like-minded,” Waxler, an editor who lives in the East Village, tells The Post.

East Village editor Kate Waler at Vandal (199 Bowery) goes out with friends every year on Thanksgiving Eve.Annie Wermiel

Other times, the night is prime time to catch up with former flames — and realize why things didn’t work out the first time around. Waxler says that one year she ran into an ex-boyfriend at a local bar in their hometown.

“He was intoxicated and it was kind of a turnoff,” says Waxler. “It’s interesting because [on Thanksgiving Eve] you get to see where people are in their lives.”

But some Thanksgiving Eve hookups have happy endings.

Celeste Thorson, a 32-year-old writer and producer, says NYC is the perfect backdrop to meet someone special during the holiday. In 2005, she met Nicola Geretti, a game developer, during a video game convention. She was immediately infatuated, so before Geretti left the event, Thorson says, she chased him up the escalator and gave him her business card.

The next day — Thanksgiving Eve — they went on a date in Central Park. They married nine years later and now live in Los Angeles.

“Thanksgiving puts us all in the mindset that, no matter what’s going on in the world, it brings you back to basics and what you’re grateful for,” Thorson tells The Post. “It put me in a positive mindset when I met him . . . and I wanted to get to know [Geretti] and I didn’t want to let this opportunity pass me by.”